Send it on
by Perkface
Summary: AU Dantana fic. Dani is a movie star who moves to Lima to leave her Disney past behind her. Will this school be the same as all of her others? Will people know who she is? Will they care? The rating will probably go up in later chapters.
1. One spark starts the fire

She stepped off of the yellow school bus and took a deep breath, gazing across the street at her new school. She hadn't been to a public school in a number of years and all the memories of her previous experiences came flooding back making her feel nauseous. After all, that's what got her in this situation in the first place. She hoped that McKinley High School would be different but some how she knew that her hope was just wishful thinking. She just had to make sure that no one would recognise her, then she might stand a chance in this place.  
"Keep your head down Dani. No singing, no clubs, only speak when you're spoken to" The girl thought to herself.  
"Move it Disney!" Another student demanded as he pushed past her to get off the bus. Apparently she had been stood there motionless for quite some time.  
"So much for keeping my head down and no one would notice me" She thought to herself.

The boy was referring to Dani's rise to fame as one of the Disney Channels child stars. A rise to fame which would end with her disappearing off of the Hollywood radar all together. To the world it was a mystery where she had disappeared to and Dani and her family hoped that it would remain this way. They hoped that by moving to Lima, Ohio that they could start a new life out of the public eye, where they wouldn't be constantly followed by paparazzi and where Dani's little sister could have a somewhat normal childhood.

She took another deep breath and headed up the steps and into the schools busy smirked a little when no one seemed to notice her. It was like she was invisible. If she could go her whole senior year like this then maybe she could give her sister the life she wanted. Now she just needed to find the principals office and get her school year started. She felt a soft touch to her shoulder and she froze.  
"Well that didn't last very long" She muttered to herself as she turned around and faked a smile thinking her cover had been blown.  
"Hey there, you look lost." This guy didn't look like a student so she felt herself relax a little.  
"Yeah, It's my first day, I'm looking for the principals office" She replied being careful not to give the stranger her name in case it sparked any kind of familiarisation in the man which would cause him to figure out who she is.  
"Oh that's great, I'm Mr Schuester but the kids round here call me Mr Schue" He reached out to shake her hand. Dani was relived that he didn't seem to know who she was. "I'll show you to the office, Principal Figgins has been expecting you."  
Mr Schue lead Dani through the hallways of the school. It didn't seem too hard to navigate. Luckily no one seemed to notice her with the teacher, the other students were either too busy not caring or fondly greeting the man who was currently escorting her through the school. Which Dani found to be more than a little bit strange. She couldn't tell if she thought his familiarity with some of the students to be creepy or reassuring. She decided to give Mr Schue the benefit of the doubt and decided on the latter.

Once they reached the office Mr Schue left her to it.  
"Danielle, please come in" Mr Figgins gestured for her to sit on the couch while he placed himself on the chair on the opposite side of a coffee table which had a number of folders on it, all of which were marked with Danis name. On one of them she recognised the crest of the Winton Bay facility.  
"Great" She thought, They sent him my file. Principal Figgins noticed her worries.  
"Don't worry Danielle, All the information in that folder is on a need to know basis. I am the only one who has seen the contents and I'm sure we would both like to keep it that way."  
Dani felt the reassurance flood over her body. She could deal with one person knowing where she had been for the past few months. It might even be a good idea to let someone in on the secret in case she ever needed to talk to anyone. She thought it might be a guidance councilor or something but she guessed Principal Figgins seems liked a nice enough guy.  
A number of minutes passed in which the principal welcomed her to the school and handed over a folder containing her class schedule, a leaflet on extra curricular activities as well as a school map. The bell rang giving the teacher the signal to send her off to her first class.  
"Don't hesitate to come and see me if you have any problems Danielle" He added as she left his office.  
"Please, call me Dani. I don't really go by Danielle anymore" She requested.  
"Very well Danielle, have a good day"  
Dani rolled her eyes, Danielle it was then. But only with Principal Figgins.

Her first class was easy enough to find. It was more or less directly across the hall and the room clearly stated English 1.  
The room was still filling up and with it being the first day of the school year she took her chance at picking a seat at the back of the room. She placed her bag onto her lap and pulled out her pens and a notebook. As she placed her book onto the floor she caught a glimpse of tanned ankles in white cheerleading trainers. She blinked a number of times before slowly lifting her eyes up the body of the girl who's back was turned. Dani noted that the ankles belonged to the most beautiful set of legs, muscular from the obvious workouts yet still feminine and sleek. She let her eyes wander further up to the girls cheer skirt which was swishing around with the girls movements. "God bless the perve that invented them" Dani found herself thinking. No wait, what was she thinking? She closed her eyes and shook her head trying to clear her thoughts.  
"Hey San I think you have an admirer!" Dani froze. Had someone caught her looking or was someone else checking this girl out? She opened her eyes to find the owner of the legs and turned to face her. The two girls held eye contact for a couple for seconds before Dani had to look away and as soon as she did, she missed the brown orbs, they were so intense that for a second Dani thought she was going to get a beat down but at the same time they were so soft that she had to risk another glance.  
She looked back up to the girl who was still staring at her.  
"Shut up Quinn" Santana snapped before taking her seat at the single desk next to Dani. Dani averted her eyes once more away from the girl and fiddled with her notebook flipping to a blank page. A chorus of 'Oooohhs' came from the cheerleaders friends.  
"Santana Lopez, are you blushing?" a blonde girl teased.  
"I said shut it Fabray" She snapped once more.  
So her name was Santana, Dani liked that. She felt a flutter in her stomach at the sound of the girls name. She chanced a sideways glace at the girl next to her to find the Santana looking back. Dani felt a sudden burst of confidence that she hadn't felt in a long time and bit down on her lower lip and shot Santana a flirtatious smile. The brunette gave a nervous side smile back before turning back to her friends to reprimand them further for their teasing.  
Dani returned to her notebook, suddenly inspired.

**A/N: This was my first fic, like, ever. So please review lemmie know what you think. Should I continue?**


	2. Somewhere in the middle

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm so overwhelmed by the amount of follows favourites and reviews in literally the past couple of hours (literally the time it took my to watch Scott Pilgrim).**

**Keep reviewing and stuff.**

**Erm yeah so this chapter introduces Brittany (bare with me on this one guys there will be some character development here,hopefully).**

**I also introduced Rachel.**

**Let me know how I'm doing with the characterisation. I've never written other peoples characters before just my own so I'm trying really had to get them right. (While remembering that this is an AU)**

Dani's first day at Mckinley High seemed to be going pretty okay. Only one person seemed to have known who she was and they either just didn't care or would have been too embarrassed to be caught out as a fan of the Disney channel. She wasn't sure but she thinks she may be on track to making a friend with the cheerleader she kind of met in her first class. Santana. She smiled at the memory of their first encounter. As that first lesson Dani was called to the front of the class to speak with the teacher and when she had returned to her seat to collect her belongings Santana and her friends had gone. Dani began to wonder if she was ever there in the first place or if she had totally imagined the girl. As far as first days at school goes Dani was coping pretty well her next challenge however was approaching fast. Lunch time.

Dani was so lost in the thoughts of Santana almost didn't hear the bell ring to signal for the lunch break. She grabbed her bag and headed in the same direction of the general crowd of students to the cafeteria. As she waited in the lunch queue she scanned the tables for any sign of the brunette, she was hoping that she would be permitted to sit with her and her friends as they were the closest thing Dani had made to making friends.

As the cheerleaders arrived in the cafeteria another group of students stood to give their table up for the more popular clique. This threw Dani a bit until Santana looked up noticing the girls eyes on her and raised her hand. She didn't wave exactly, it was more of an acknowledgement of Dani's presence. Either way Dani decided to take her chances and head over to the large group of girls, keeping as much eye contact with Santana as possible. She was so distracted she didn't see the other girl approaching, before she had chance to react she felt her tray hit her square in the face and her spaghetti lunch slip through her hair and into her clothes. The whole cafeteria was in hysterics but Dani had to hold it together. Through the haze of her watery eyes Dani could make out a tall blonde cheerleader approaching her. Dani held her breath waiting for the inevitable attack, verbal or otherwise.  
"She is not your friend. Stay away from Santana." The un-named blonde almost whispered before Dani felt the ice cold blast of a slushie join the spaghetti on her face.

Dani couldn't move. It was as if the whole world had slowed down. She looked around the cafeteria at the hysteria of the side show that was Dani at this moment. She was right, this school would be no different to the others. Could this really all be over Santana? Or did they know who she was?  
"Get lost Disney" The blonde cheerleader spat. Or it could be both Dani thought.  
She took one last glance at Santana before she bolted for the door and was surprised by Santana's lack of amusement by the circus unfolding in front of her. She wasn't laughing.  
"What the hell Brittany?" Santana demanded as she pulled the blonde by her arm back towards their table.  
Dani shooted towards the closest exit, not knowing where the hell she was, she just kept wandering hoping to find a bathroom to clean up in.  
She felt a hand grab for hers and reflexively pulled her arm away and spun to face her attacker.  
"Sorry I'm... I'm sorry" The girl apologised."You're probably looking for a bathroom right?"  
"What gave me away?" Dani pouted.  
"It's this way" The girl lead her down the hallway and into the closest bathroom. "I'm Rachel by the way" She stated as she went to grab some paper towels to help Dani clean up.  
"I'm Dani"  
"I know" Rachel smiled. Dani panicked "It's okay I'm not going to call the paparazzi and sell my story of how you got slushied to the times. I'm a friend" Rachel added. Dani relaxed some what.  
"Thanks, you seem to know what you're doing here. Do you get this a lot?" Dani asked as she pulled out a change of clothes from her bag.  
"You do too" Rachel commented at Danis change of clothes " And yeah, we get it quite a lot in Glee club the only person who doesn't really get slushied is Brittany, I never understood why, maybe it's because it would be like bullying a child or mayb.."  
"Brittany?" Dani cut her rant off as she recognised the girls name.  
"Yeah do you know her?"  
"Is she a tall blonde cheerleader? Kind of protective over Santana?"  
"Yeah that's her. And you met Santana? She's in Glee club too, she's almost as talented as me. But don't tell her I told you that. So how do you know Brittany?" Rachel didn't breathe in between sentences. It took a while for Dani to even noticed that she had posed her a question.  
"She did this to me" Dani explained. Rachel was shocked.  
"Brittany did this? Are you sure? That's not like her. Now if Santana had done it I would completely understand"  
"Santana?" Dani didn't think that Santana would be so cruel. "No, It was definitely Brittany. She told me to stay away from Santana" Dani explained the whole fiasco to Rachel. She wan't even sure why. It just felt good to be able to tell someone about it.  
Rachel still couldn't understand Brittany's motives. She knew that Brittany and Santana had a history but whatever had been going on with them ended a while ago. She suddenly had a brilliant idea.  
"You should come" Rachel blurted out just as Dani was fixing her hair. "To Glee club"  
"I dunno Rachel" Dani was hesitant "I don't want to provoke anyone, especially if Brittany is going to be there"  
"We're a family in Glee club. Brittany won't be able to touch you" Rachel could sense Dani's hesitance. "Look, it's only the first day back and Sue Sylvester had the cheerios trash the choir room so we'll be in the auditorium after school. At least come and hear me sing?" Dani laughed. She couldn't tell if Rachel was like this all the time or if she was just joking around to cheer her up but it was working.  
"I dunno" Dani was still unsure. Rachel gave her a knowing look and smirked "What?"  
"Santana will be there" Rachel tried her luck. Dani closed her eyes and let out a sigh.  
"Okay" Dani accepted  
"I knew it!"  
"I'm promising to sing or anything. That's all behind me now." Dani admitted "I just want to see if you're as good as you think you are." Rachel laughed as the bell rang.  
"Oh I am!" She replied "See you later Dani!"


	3. Anytime you need a friend

**A/N: As I said on my Tumblr guys, really sorry for the wait for this chapter. I got to spend some extra time with my girlfriend this week and had a long weekend at work so I didn't get the chance to do any writing. But here it is, I hope you guys like it and that it was worth waiting for.**

**Oh and just a reminder that I'm British so my spellings may be different than most of you are used to.**

Dani loitered outside of the auditorium. Since school ended she had been strolling around the school trying to pass the time so that she could attempt to sneak into glee club without being noticed. She didn't want to have to deal with Brittany again today. She contemplated just turning around and catching the next bus home but she had told Rachel she would be there and she didn't want to let down the only person who had showed any interest in being her friend today. She held her breath as she slowly pulled open the door into the schools theatre.  
She tried to open it as quietly as possible, the door however had other ideas and made a loud suction noise as she moved it on its hinges. Dani Scrunched her face up in embarrassment as the room went silent and number of faces turned to look to her.  
"Sorry" She cringed as she lowered herself into the seat closest to the exit.  
"Don't be Dani, I'm glad you could join us" Dani recognise the teacher as Mr Schue, the same man who had been kind to her her showed her to the principals office earlier that day. She acknowledged him with a small smile. "Please, feel free to join the group." Mr Schue offered.  
Dani took the opportunity to take a small glance around the room. There where only about eleven or twelve other students in the room. She noticed Rachel at first who was shooting her a massive smile and was waving her to come down further into the room. Dani smiled at the fondness she already had for the girl. Her eyes continued to scan the room until her heart pounded and she felt those butterflies in her stomach again. Santana was sat smiling back up at her. Dani froze. Everyone was looking at her as if they were expecting her to say or do something.  
"Your timing is wonderful Dani, I was just about to welcome everyone back to school with a rousing number." Rachel expressed as she stood from her chair and moved to get Dani from her seat. Dani heard a few chuckles from the other students and figured that yes, Rachel was like this all the time.  
Rachel guided the girl down to the lower seats of the room and pushed her down one of the isles, giving her a wink as she left Dani to head towards the stage. Dani thought Rachel was acting a bit weird. Why had she winked at her and why did she feel the need to personally see her to a seat? She decided to shrug it off and she turned to walk further down the isle and to join the rest of the group.  
"Hi" Dani's mouth went dry. Santana was on her row. Santana was talking to her. More importantly Santana was smiling at her and there was an empty seat next to her. The moment she decided to sit next to the girl Dani caught a glimpse of blonde hair. Sitting next to Santana with her arms folded and her expression fixed hard onto the stage was Brittany, her lunch time tormentor. Dani took a step back and left one empty chair in between herself and the girl she so desperately wanted to be close to.  
"Hi" Dani replied as she slouched into her chair, resting her head in her hands and leaning onto the arm rest as she angled her head to glimpse at Santana. The brunettes smile wan't as big as before as she looked down at the empty seat in between them. Dani's head was spinning. Did Santana want Dani to sit in that seat too?  
Why couldn't she have just opened the door quietly?

The focus of the room fell on Rachel as she reached the stage and instructed the pianist on her choice of song.  
"Okay now I did have another song prepared for today, in fact I was rehearsing it all summer." Rachel smiled at Dani and gestured to her new friend earning a smile in return. "However, upon meeting Dani at lunch time today" She shot a steely glance over to Brittany and paused to let it sink in to the blonde cheerleader that what she did was not okay. "I was inspired to pick another song, so forgive me if I haven't had time to perfect my performance as I usually would have and would expect the same from all of you." The pianist began to play and Dani felt the atmosphere in the room relax now that all the attention was not on her. When Rachel began to sing Dani smiled a toothy grin at her friend and gave her a small nod. She really was as good as she said she was.

"If you're lonely  
And need a friend  
And troubles seem like  
They never end  
Just remember to keep the faith  
And love will be there to light the way"

Dani recognised the song instantly. She would often sing it to her little sister when she was having a bad day and needed some cheering up. The two girls would snuggle up on the sofa and have a good cry about things that were upsetting them. The younger of the two would look up to her big sister and Dani knew instantly what she needed.  
She listned hard to the rest of the song. Letting the memories wash over her. She knew why Rachel had chosen the song and it had worked. Dani was beginning to feel at ease now that she knew she wouldn't be alone for the rest of the school year.

"Anytime you need a friend  
I will be here  
You'll never be alone again  
So don't you fear  
Even if you're miles away  
I'm by your side  
So don't you ever be lonely  
It's alright"

Rachel finished singing and readily accepted the applause which followed.  
"Thank you" Dani whispered as Rachel took her seat in front of her.  
"You're welcome" She mouthed back.

"Alright then guys I think that's all we have time for today" Mr Schue announced. "And I think I have found the perfect theme for this week. Fresh starts" He paused to let it sink in. "A lot of you had a lot of tough stuff going on last year" His eyes glanced over to a few individuals in the room. "Let's try and leave that behind us and move ahead as the better people we have become because of it. Dani" Dani's head shot up at the sound of her name.  
"Em, Yeah?"  
"How do you feel about joining us?"  
"I'm errr, I'm not sure yet"  
"Well you have plenty of time to think about it. We would love to have you on the team"  
"Thanks Mr Schue I will" Dani replied and with that the room began to empty. Rachel spun around in her chair.  
"Do you need a lift home?" She asked  
"Yeah sure" Dani accepted  
"Great we can start brainstorming auditions ideas" Rachel seemed like she was going to burst with excitement.  
"Audition?" Dani wasn't quite so thrilled.  
"You're no good to us if you can't sing" Brittany spat out as she pushed past Dani, knocking her slightly into Rachel as she walked off followed closely by Santana who stopped in front of the new girl. Santana reached forward and ran her hand along Dani's arm.  
"I'm sure you're a great singer" Santana reassured "But I'd still want you around anyway" She added as her hand slipped into Dani's and gave it a small squeeze before turning an following the blonde.

Dani stood completely frozen replaying what had just happened in her head while her heart beat steadied itself.  
"Okay, what just happened?" Rachel asked, completely astounded.  
"I... err..." Dani's mouth was dry and incapable of forming words.  
"Because if you're thinking that Santana and Brittany swapped personalities over the summer then I think you may be right."

**A/N: The song is 'Anythime you need a friend' by Mariah Carey. (not a personal favourite but it fitted so i used it)**


End file.
